


A Wish To Reach You

by teddiehtet



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (kinda), Alternate Universe, Crossover, Dimension Travel, M/M, Mobile Games, Otome Game, Pining Katsuki Yuuri, Pining Victor Nikiforov, Romance, dating sim, some magic involved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-12 13:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10491564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teddiehtet/pseuds/teddiehtet
Summary: “Why am I investing so much energy into this game?” Yuuri asks himself as he lies in bed at 3:30 AM, selecting answers in response to the game characters.After being introduced to a mobile game called “Mysterious Messages”, Yuuri quickly finds out that this isn’t the type of game that you can play for just a while. It sucks you in and keeps your attention. He ends up getting extremely invested not only because one of the characters is unfairly handsome, but also because of its appealing story and lovable cast. He’s also strangely attracted to said handsome character, even though he’s not real.“Huh…that’s odd,” Yuuko said when Yuuri showed her the messages he received from Victor in game. “I never got these messages, and I completed the whole game.”After looking through past messages, she got more confused. “Most of these aren’t the pre-programmed messages.”Yuuri felt goosebumps crawl up his arms. “D-Do you think something’s wrong with my game?"“Not really. This sounds weird but…what if Victor’s grown a conscience?” Yuuko stayed silent for a couple of ominous seconds. When Yuuri shifted uncomfortably, she burst into laughter. “Nah, that’s not possible. It’s just a game.”…Or is it?





	1. A New Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I played the April Fool’s DLC for Mystic Messenger and got hit with some FeelsTM. I've always wanted to write a fic for Yuri on Ice, but I never got around to doing it. Playing the new DLC for Mystic Messenger helped spark some inspiration, so this fic happened! If you guys play Mystic Messenger, but haven’t played the April Fool’s DLC, this could maybe, potentially have some spoiler-y things, but it probably won't be until later chapters. If you guys haven’t played the game yet, go check it out! It’s such an interesting game with really lovable characters!  
> I'm hoping to make this a multi-chapter fic, and I’m praying that I’ll be able to update more often than once a year, but right now even I’m not sure what direction I'm going to take with this fic yet…I’ll see how it goes. Meanwhile, I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter!

“Yuuri!”

A young man with dark hair and large, blue rimmed glasses perched on his nose turned around at the sound of his name, and was immediately hugged by a girl with mid-length brown hair tied in a high ponytail. Suddenly thrown off balance, the young man took a couple of steps backwards to try and remain standing.

“Yuuko-chan, good morning,” greeted Yuuri.

Yuuko released Yuuri from her hug and gave him a bright smile. “Morning! How’s your first semester here going so far?”

Yuuri chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. “Well, to be honest, I still find it a bit intimidating to speak up in my first year seminar, but I think overall, classes are going okay. I just turned in my first lab report for my intro bio class a couple of days ago, and I have a paper due for my intro to writing class next week. I'm also getting along really well with Phichit, my roommate. He’s a very fun person. Plus, he’s also in the ice-skating club with me, so I’m glad to see a familiar face there.” Yuuri started walking to the dining hall with Yuuko walking beside him. “What about you, Yuuko-chan? How’s junior year treating you?”

Yuuko heaved a huge sigh and started to rant. “I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to overload on classes this semester! It feels like I have a test or a paper due every week, homework due every day, and on top of that I’m working at the local ice rink!” Yuuko huffed frustratingly and hung her head as she continued walking. “Not to mention I have to start thinking of either applying for grad school or getting a job.”

Yuuri gave her a sympathetic pat on the back. “You’ll get through, Yuuko-chan. You’ve always been able to push your way through.”

Yuuri wasn’t lying either. At the young age of 21, Yuuko was already married to another of her and Yuuri’s childhood friends, Takeshi Nishigori. On top of married life, she always aimed to get decent grades in all of her classes, and made enough time to work part time at the local ice rink while being a full time student. 

“Thanks Yuuri,” Yuuko weakly smiled. “It feels like school just started again, but I’m already buried in assignments. It’s a good thing I found a new game to play to relieve my stress.”

Yuuri and Yuuko reached the cashier at the entrance of the dining hall, where they both tapped their student IDs to enter. Once inside, both of them continued their conversation while browsing the food offered for the day’s lunch.

“Do you even have the time to play games, Yuuko-chan?” Yuuri worriedly asked, afraid that his friend may not be getting enough sleep.

Yuuko gave Yuuri a sheepish smile. “Heh… actually this game is surprisingly addicting, and I admit, I’ve had a few sleepless nights.” Yuuri started to open his mouth to start chiding Yuuko, but the young woman quickly continued, “But this game helped me out when I got super stressed! Sure, I’d end up procrastinating a bit on my assignments, but my stress levels were already through the roof so that game really helped me grasp back my sanity.” Yuuko grabbed a tray and stood at the end of one of the food lines with Yuuri following suit.

“Is it really that good?” Yuuri asked, slightly skeptical. “What’s the game’s name?”

“It’s called ‘Mysterious Messages’. You should try downloading it, Yuuri!” Yuuko suggested excitedly. “You love games anyway, and I’m sure you’ll have a blast with this one!”

“What type of game is it?”

“It’s a mobile app. Hold on for a sec.” Yuuko turned her attention away from Yuuri to tell the lady behind the counter that she wanted a bowl of udon while Yuuri asked the second lady working behind the counter for a bowl of katsudon.

While they waited for their food at the other end of the counter, Yuuko pulled out her smartphone and tapped on the “Mysterious Messages” app. “Here, this is it.” She scooted closer to Yuuri so that both of them could see the screen. Yuuko tapped on the “Main Story” button, changing the screen. Now, on this new page, Yuuri could see that there was one large circular button titled “Chatroom”, and two other circular buttons titled “Message” and “Call”. Cutely drawn faces of multiple characters lined the top of the screen, and the time was clearly shown on the top left corner. Yuuri also noticed that there was a picture of an hourglass and a yellow heart, with numbers next to both of them. Knowing mobile games, he mentally guessed that they were the monetary units of the game. On the left side of the screen, more circular buttons were lined up vertically. The most notable one to Yuuri was the top button, which had a drawing of a couple of photos. Yuuri guessed that it was where the game’s CGs were stored.

Yuuko tapped on the chatroom button and showed Yuuri how far along she was in the game. “I’m already on the last day of the last route,” Yuuko said as she scrolled through the days. “This last route is super interesting! A lot of people were saying that it’s best to do Victor’s route last because you find out a lot of things that tie the whole story together, and I’m glad I followed their advice.”

“Who’s Victor?” Yuuri asked.

Yuuko scrolled till she reached the “Final Day” chatroom and pointed to the character visible in the box below “Final Day”, and in some of the past days. With raised eyebrows, Yuuri stared at the character. Within the box was a man with short, silver hair that was parted on the right side of his head. Many strands of silver hair fell in front of his left eye, partly concealing the character’s wink. His right eye was open, however, revealing a bright, icy blue iris. On top of having a handsome face, Victor also had an attractive pose. His left arm was folded, tucked in the inside of his right elbow, while he held his right hand up to his lips with all fingers curled except his index finger, which was lightly pressing on his lips. Even though the drawing wasn’t that big, and only half of the character’s profile could be seen, Yuuri was very pleasantly surprised at how well drawn Victor was and how the artist really accentuated Victor’s good looks.

“You think he’s cute,” Yuuko declared, with a sly look on her face. Before Yuuri could protest, she continued, “I don’t blame you, Yuuri. Victor’s the most popular character in this game.”

“Is it some sort of dating sim?” Yuuri asked, trying to change the topic before Yuuko could tease him further.

“It is! It’s an otome game, and it has such a good story behind it!” Yuuko gushed. “I downloaded the game just because a friend of mine recommended it after she saw me almost at my breaking point. At first I didn’t really think the game would be good, but boy, was I wrong. The company gave us free hourglasses as a bonus for signing up, and you won’t believe how fast I used all those hourglasses to unlock chatrooms because I was too impatient!”

“Do you _have_ to use hourglasses?”

“No, not really. The game runs on real time, so the chatrooms open at certain times during the day. You, as the player, can take part in the chatrooms, and if you don’t turn on notifications, you could potentially miss some chatrooms. Hourglasses can be used to play missed chats, or to purchase a whole day’s worth of chatrooms if you think you won’t have the time to continue checking the game, or if you’re impatient, like me,” Yuuko explained.

A second later, one of the lunch ladies called out her order, so Yuuko locked her screen, stuck her phone in the pocket of her jacket, and placed her bowl of udon on the tray. Almost immediately after, Yuuri’s order was called out and he retrieved his lunch. The two of them then spotted a free table and walked over to claim it.

Both friends quickly muttered “itadakimasu” before taking the first bite of their food. As they ate, they kept up their conversation. “Each character’s story is unique,” Yuuko continued to explain. “You have four main characters, and you can see them lined up here. They’re all part of this idol group called ‘Lilia’s Angels’. So what they do is perform at night, while keeping their grades up in school during the day. Also, the profit from their concerts is donated to charity. They all keep in touch through the messenger app, which you also have access to as the player. There are a lot of chatrooms, but there are also quite a lot of scenes which are depicted in the style of a visual novel, called ‘Visual Novel Mode’.” Yuuko then went back to the main story’s home screen and ran her index finger along the line of characters’ faces. She then started to introduce the characters to Yuuri, starting from the one on the far left.

“I’ll give you a quick rundown of the characters. This one’s Georgi Popovich. He’s…interesting. A bit dramatic, but has quite a cute story.” Her finger hovered over the next character, who was a woman with short, red hair. “This is Mila Babicheva. She’s one of the characters you can romance too! Her story’s a bit different from the others’, but it’s still very engaging.” The next character looked a little younger than the others, and even in chibi form, his expression looked annoyed. “Now, this character’s Yuri Plisetsky, which I thought was a nice surprise, because he shares the same first name with you. He can be quite aggressive sometimes, but underneath all that bark, he can be a sweetie too.” She then moved on to the last character. “Last but not least is Victor Nikiforov. He’s the leader of the idol group, and is known as the ‘Living Legend’ because of his overwhelming presence on stage. Oh, I should also tell you that the game is fully voiced, so you can listen to some clips of their songs! All of their voice actors did an amazing job at singing and giving the characters life.”

“Hmm,” Yuuri hummed as he took a bite of katsu. Yuuko’s description of the game already piqued his interest, and he seriously considered downloading and trying out the game for himself.

“I don’t want to spoil anything else for you because I want you to go through the game yourself,” Yuuko paused as she sipped the udon soup. “Download it tonight, and start the game right after midnight, because that’s around when the first chatroom opens up.”  
“Okay,” Yuuri agreed. “I’ll try it out, just because you recommended it, Yuuko-chan.”

“Yes!” Yuuko cheered, and leaned across the table to squeeze Yuuri in a hug. “You won’t regret it, Yuuri. I do recommend you to do Victor’s route last though, since a lot of loose ends are tied up in his route. Well, you actually won’t get access to Victor’s and Yuri’s routes in the beginning. I suggest you start with either Mila’s or Georgi’s route.”

Once Yuuko settled back down in her seat and started finishing up the rest of her udon, Yuuri asked, “So, do you mean that I’d have to finish either Mila’s or Georgi’s route before I get to go on to Victor’s and Yuri’s routes?” Yuuri earned a nod from Yuuko. “So do I get to pick the route right from the beginning?”

“Nope. The first few days are called the common route, and the story’s basically the same for both Mila and Georgi in that time period. You have to pick the choices that put you in either character’s favor, which will then lead into one of their routes. Mila’s and Georgi’s routes are in the ‘casual story’ while Victor’s and Yuri’s routes are in the ‘deep story’. Once you’ve finished either Mila’s or Georgi’s route, you’ll be allowed to unlock the deep story, and then you can play Victor’s and Yuri’s routes.”

“Hmm, okay,” Yuuri nodded. He then finished up the remnants of his katsudon before taking out his phone and tapping on the App Store. “I’ll download the game now and play later tonight then.”

“You won’t regret it Yuuri!” Yuuko cheerfully advocated. “I’ll warn you right now though, that you may lose sleep some nights… or a lot of nights…because there are chatrooms that open up at 3 or 4 in the morning…”

Yuuri stared at Yuuko blankly, his index finger hovering over the ‘get’ button on the app’s page. “Yuuko-chan…I don’t think I’ll get that invested. I didn’t lose that much sleep over other games I’ve played. Plus, I still have to think about ice-skating practice, so I’ll probably miss a lot of chats.”

“You could always buy hourglasses,” Yuuko suggested.

“I don’t have a part time job yet so I don’t really want to spend too much money on games for now,” Yuuri replied. “I’ll still play the game and let you know what I think,” finished Yuuri, as he finally downloaded the game.

The two of them then started to clean up, taking their trays to the area where dirty dishes are placed. Afterwards, they headed over to the local ice-rink together for Yuuko’s shift and Yuuri’s practice time with Phichit.

* * *

Late at night, after Yuuri finished showering and changing into his pajamas, he said good night to Phichit, turned off the lights, and climbed into his bed. He then plugged his charger as well as headphones into his phone, and started up his new game.

When the app started up, he was greeted by a man’s cheerful voice exclaiming, “Mappa!” Yuuri couldn’t decide whether the overly excited “Mappa!” was plain unnecessary or whether he’d exit the app and open it again just to hear the cute but also strangely attractive voice again.

He was then taken to the registration page, where Yuuri quickly entered his email and password. Because he didn’t want to think of a fancy name, he just decided to name his character ‘Yuuri’, and was pleasantly surprised at the option to choose a male or female character. He picked male.

Once his account was created, the game took a few more seconds to download more content. After that, Yuuri was taken to the mode select screen, which currently only had the “original story” option available. There were other selections, which were “extra”, “after ending”, and “save & load”, but because Yuuri just started, those were not accessible yet.

Yuuri pressed the “original story” option, and an opening video with incredible art and graphics started playing. The song was also surprisingly catchy, and Yuuri found himself bobbing his head along to the tune. When the opening clip ended, Yuuri was taken to his first chatroom, and from there, his first experience with “Mysterious Messages” began.

* * *

The next day, Yuuri went to visit Yuuko during her shift at the ice rink. “Yuuko-chan,” he called out at the front desk.

Yuuko poked her head out from behind one of the shelves that held rentable ice skates, her face lighting up when she realized it was Yuuri. She rushed over to her friend and waited, her eyes sparkling with expectations.

“You were right,” Yuuri admitted. “The game already had me at the prologue.”

“I told you!” Yuuko sang. “Did you end up using the hourglasses they give you at the beginning?”

“Some,” Yuuri continued. “I only used them for the really early chats though, so that I could go to sleep and not miss them.”

“Hmm, you have much better self-control than I do, Yuuri.”

“I had an early class today so I couldn’t stay up too late.” Right when Yuuri finished his sentence, his phone buzzed with a notification. A small smile crept up Yuuri’s face when he checked the notification.

“Did you get a message from a friend?” Yuuko asked, leaning forward to take a look at Yuuri’s phone screen. “Oh, it’s an in-game message.”

_Have you eaten lunch yet? Don’t skip meals, Yuuri! <3 _

A quiet chuckle escaped Yuuri’s lips as he read Victor’s cute yet slightly naggy message. He opened the message on the app and tapped on the answer button.

**I ate already, and had my usual. What about you?**

“Having this type of messenger system in an otome game is really unique, but sometimes I wish we could type in our own answers,” Yuuko wished, as she propped her elbows on the counter and rested her head on the palms of her hands.

“It’d complicate things though,” Yuuri said with a smile. “There’s no way game characters can respond to our personally typed messages like real humans.”

“Yeah, but a girl can dream,” Yuuko pouted. “By the way have you decided whose route you’re going to choose first?”

“I was thinking of just answering how I would actually answer people in real life and see whose route I end up on,” Yuuri replied as he read the message Victor sent back in response.

 _I ate too! Yurio’s grandfather makes the best pirozhki! One day, when we all get to meet in person, you have to try it!_       

Yuuko noticed how Yuuri’s eyes softened ever so slightly and how the ends of his lips would tug up in a serene smile. “I'm guessing that Victor’s your favorite.”

Yuuri’s head shot up from staring at his phone screen. “Um, I…yeah…” Yuuri admitted. “In the chatroom, he can be very endearing, but in public, when he performs, he’s seen as this untouchable being that everyone fawns over.”

“Including the people in real life too,” Yuuko added. “Mappa decided to have the voice actors record and release character songs for each main character in the game. The pre-order period just started a couple of weeks ago, and the first batch for Victor’s character song sold out in no time. If he was a real person everyone would be all over him!”

“I can actually imagine that,” Yuuri chuckled. “I do like how he acts much more freely in the chats. His nickname for the in game Yuri’s also really…cute. For some reason though, I have a feeling that either he’s hiding something, or something bad is gonna happen to him.”

Yuuko smirked and pressed her right index finger to her mouth. “No spoilers for you. Complete the game yourself!”

“I will, I will!” Yuuri promised.

* * *

As the days passed, Yuuri kept up with the game religiously, making sure that he was able to participate in a chatroom when it opens, and making sure to use hourglasses when he was sure that he would be missing some chatrooms for the day.

_Don’t you think Yurio was too mean this evening?? I was only trying to help him improve but he called me an old man! You don’t think I’m old, do you Yuuri?_

“You’re not that much older than I actually am, Victor,” Yuuri chuckled quietly as he picked an answer.

**Of course not! You’re only 22!**

_;w; I knew you’d be on my side, Yuuri!_

**Well…I am curious about your hairline…**

_Yuuri!!! T^T How could you even mention that…_

In the dark, Yuuri tried to stifle his laughs so that he wouldn’t wake up Phichit. Not only was Victor’s character design attractive, but his personality was also extremely charming.

 _“If Victor existed in real life, I don’t think I’d be able to act the way I do in-game,”_ Yuuri thought as he continued to enter another chatroom. _“Real life Yuuri just isn’t this confident and fun...”_

After he finished the last chatroom of the day, Yuuri waited until the clock passed midnight so that he could finally see whose route he ended up on. He didn’t really have to wait long, since it was already 11:50 PM, but once it hit midnight, Yuuri pressed on the “continue” button, which led him back to the screen with the labeled days. When his eyes darted to the portrait on day 5, he muttered a quiet “huh?”

Staring back at him wasn’t the profile of the red-haired Mila or the black-haired Georgi. Instead, the bright, blue eyes and striking silver hair of Victor Nikiforov greeted him, along with the same pose he was in when Yuuri first saw him on Yuuko’s app.

 _“I thought I couldn’t access Victor’s route yet?”_ Yuuri wondered. _“How am I getting his route on my first play-through?”_

Confused, Yuuri decided to call it a night and locked his phone. He pulled his earphones out of his ears, wrapped them around his phone, and placed them on his desk.

 _“I’ll ask Yuuko about it tomorrow.”_ With that thought, Yuuri let the lull of sleep entice him, while his thoughts lingered on the daily messages he receives from Victor and the sound of Victor’s voice during his programmed calls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, I'm thinking of using some story elements of "Mystic Messenger", but I'm not going to make "Mysterious Messages" have the exact same storyline as "Mystic Messenger". I'm still trying to think of what'd make a good story for this AU game... haha... ;;;  
> I hope you all enjoyed reading the first chapter though! Also, just to let you all know, I'm changed the ages, and age differences of the characters. So for the characters mentioned so far:  
> Yuuri and Phichit=18 year old college freshmen  
> Yuuko=21 year old college junior  
> Victor=22 year old college senior  
> Yurio= 16 year old high school junior  
> Mila= 17 year old high school senior  
> Georgi= 21 year old college junior  
> Please let me know what you think in the comments, or if you'd just like to talk to me/fangirl about "Yuri on Ice" and/or "Mystic Messenger", feel free to visit my tumblr, [teddiehtet](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/teddiehtet), or my twitter, also [teddiehtet](https://twitter.com/teddiehtet)!


	2. A Technical Bug?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Phichit finds out about Yuuri playing the game, Yuuri becoming even more invested, and Yuuri trying to sort his feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooo boy, it's 2:30 AM here and I just finished typing out this chapter... Now I have a better direction of where I want to take this fic to, so hopefully I'll be able to write faster for the upcoming chapters! That is, if my school work and job search + grad school searches don't kill me...  
> Oh, and this fic isn't beta-ed so please forgive me if there are mistakes. ^^;;
> 
> Enjoy the chapter, everyone! :D

_Victor: Yuuri, I’d like to know more about you. Tell me about yourself._

Yuuri blinked a couple of times at Victor’s new message as he laid on his lofted bed with his earphones plugged in. The sunlight shining through the window right beside his bed illuminated his phone screen even further, as if the sun itself was highlighting Victor’s most recent message. Was it just him, or were the messages becoming more personal? Then again, Yuuri rationalized that it’s normal for an otome game character to try and get closer to the main character, especially if they’re already on said character’s route. Before he could tap the answer button, his roommate, Phichit, planted his chin on Yuuri’s mattress and glanced at Yuuri’s screen.

“I didn’t know you played this game, Yuuri,” Phichit commented, startling the young Japanese man.

Yuuri removed his headphones and greeted his friend. “Phichit, hi. Yuuko recommended this game, actually.”

“I’ve seen a lot of good reviews about this game too!” Phichit added. “Looks like a lot of people didn’t expect this game to boom like it did.”

“Have you played it before?” Yuuri asked.

“Nah, I haven’t,” Phichit replied. As Phichit pushed himself up on Yuuri’s bed, Yuuri scooted closer to the wall so that Phichit would have space to sit on. Although it was a bit cramped, the two friends made due and laid side by side of Yuuri’s bed.

“Not that curious about it?”

“Hmm in this case, I’d rather watch people play it. I like being a spectator. Anyway,” Phichit changed the subject, “who’s your favorite character?”

Yuuri switched the game screen to the one where it showed what day he was on. Pointing to Victor’s portrait under day 5.

“Ahh, Victor,” Phichit confirmed. “I can’t really say I'm surprised. He’s super popular!”

“That’s what Yuuko-chan said too. Although, I think there might be something wrong with my game. I still have to ask her about that…”

“Hm? What’s wrong with your game?”

“So Yuuko-chan said that I can’t play Victor’s route unless I finish either Georgi’s or Mila’s route, but for some reason, I’m on Victor’s route already, and this is only my first playthrough,” Yuuri explained. “I was wondering if my game had a technical bug.”

“Well, you may as well enjoy his route, right? You’re already on it anyway!” Phichit encouraged. “Besides, I’ve heard a lot of people on twitter and tumblr say that Victor’s route is the best one.”

“Isn’t it better to save the best for last?” Yuuri chuckled.

“Hmmm, you’re right!” Phichit agreed. “Other than the bug, how’s the game going?”

“I actually like Victor’s character a lot,” Yuuri confessed. “Even before I got on his route, I thought he was—“

“Cool? Mysterious? Sexy?” Phichit interrupted enthusiastically, never missing a chance to try and make his friend flustered.

“…Uh…sure,” Yuuri agreed. “Okay, I admit, for a fictional character, Victor’s really attractive and has a great personality.”

“Lots of people get attached to fictional characters, Yuuri! It’s okay to have the urge to fuck a fictional character once in a while—“

“Phichit!” Yuuri hissed in horror, as he brought one of his hands up to cover his face, embarrassed at his friend’s bluntness.

Phichit laughed merrily, satisfied to have gotten such a response from Yuuri. He then gently patted Yuuri’s head. “I’m not wrong though,” Phichit defended.

“Uh huh…” Yuuri reluctantly agreed. “To be honest, if Victor was real, I’m pretty sure I’d fall hard for him.”

“Hmm, I can definitely see that,” Phichit agreed. “I mean, you’re already exchanging messages with the fictional Victor throughout the day, when we’re eating, late at night…”

Yuuri groaned, slightly embarrassed that he had gotten so invested in the game, to the point that Phichit even realized that Yuuri was on the app when they were both ready to sleep. “Can I tell you something, Phichit?” Phichit nodded, signaling Yuuri to continue. “I don’t even know why, but I feel like Victor’s messages are so…real. It feels like I'm exchanging messages with a real person rather than a fictional character. The messages are getting more personal and somehow, the answer options are starting to look more and more like how I, personally, would talk. I’m even kind of starting to believe that Victor’s real!”  Yuuri chuckled and then shook his head softly. “It’s a bit ridiculous, actually. I bet you’re thinking, ‘Yuuri’s lost it’, aren’t you?”  

Phichit merely hummed in response. Yuuri turned his head sideways to observe his friend. Surprisingly, for Yuuri, he couldn’t pinpoint what kind of expression Phichit had. To Yuuri, it didn’t look like an expression Phichit would usually have; it just wasn’t “Phichit-like”. His Thai friend’s face looked…contemplative? Contemplative and yet somehow blank, as if Phichit was thinking of something Yuuri had no understanding of.

“Phichit?” Yuuri called, trying to get his friend’s attention.

Phichit turned his head, so that he was looking straight into Yuuri’s eyes, and smiled. Again, Yuuri thought even his smile wasn’t very “Phichit-like”. “I don’t think you’re ridiculous at all, Yuuri,” Phichit softly answered.

“Are you okay, Phichit? What’s gotten into you?” Yuuri asked, concern for his friend suddenly taking over. “Are you getting sick?”

Phichit shook his head. “Nah, I’m great!”

“You don’t seem like your usual self right now,” Yuuri added. He brought one of his hands up brushed Phichit’s black bangs out of the way, and then pressed the palm of his hand on his forehead. “You definitely don’t have a fever.”

Phichit chuckled and brought his own hand up to cover Yuuri’s. Phichit then gently tugged Yuuri’s had away from his forehead. “I’m fine. Thanks for worrying though!” Before Yuuri could say anything else, Phichit pushed himself up, hopped off Yuuri’s bed, and stretched his arms. “Also, I really don’t think you’re crazy. Like I said before, there are lot of people who’d wanna fuck—“

“Okayyy,” Yuuri interrupted. “That’s enough of that! Don’t you have an afternoon class to go to?”

Phichit stuck his hand in the pocket of his jacket and fished out his phone. After checking the time, he gasped animatedly, stuck his phone back in his pocket, and grabbed his bag before rushing out of the room. “Thanks for the reminder, roomie! I’ll see you later!”

Yuuri sighed, a little exasperated by his roommate’s quick change of pace. “At least he’s gone back to his normal self,” he muttered, as he turned his attention back to his messages.

**Yuuri: I don’t think there’s much to say about myself…**

Yuuri selected his reply and then checked the time: 2:45 PM. Yuuri pushed himself off of his bed and hopped down. He then grabbed his jacket, slipped his arms into the sleeves, and slipped his phone and keys into his pockets. He then started making his way to the ice rink, just making it in time for the start of Yuuko’s shift.

* * *

“Yuuri, hi!”

Yuuko’s enthusiastic greeting caught Yuuri’s attention as he made his way to her counter. “Yuuko-chan, how did your day go?”

“It was okay. Today’s the day when I don’t have that many classes, thankfully,” she replied. “Oh, you said you wanted to ask me something about ‘Mysterious Messages’?”

Yuuri nodded as he pulled out his phone. “Yeah, I think there’s something wrong with my app. For some reason I’m on Victor’s route, even though it’s only my first playthrough. His messages are strangely personal, even for an otome game, and the answers I can choose sound like the way I would reply if Victor was a real person.”  

“Huh…that’s odd,” Yuuko said when Yuuri showed her the messages he received from Victor in game. “You’re right. I never got these messages, and I completed the whole game. You’re only on day 5 too…”

After looking through past messages, she got more confused. “Most of these aren’t the pre-programmed messages.” 

Yuuri felt goosebumps crawl up his arms. His thoughts raced back to his conversation with Phichit and Yuuri’s brief, wild theory about Victor being real. “So, do you think something’s wrong with my game?”

“What if Victor grew a conscience?” Yuuko whispered and stayed silent for a couple of ominous seconds. When Yuuri shifted uncomfortably, she burst into laughter. “Nah, that’s not possible. It’s just a game.”

“Yuuko-chan…” Yuuri trailed.

“I don't really know what’s wrong with it, but hey, you might as well take advantage of it right? Maybe there was an update recently, and your phone automatically updated the app. I wouldn’t really think too much of it, Yuuri. After all, it’s only a game.”

 _“Right…only a game,”_ Yuuri mentally repeated.

* * *

_Victor: Yuuri!!_ _I’m sure there’s plenty of interesting things about you!_

**Yuuri: There really isn’t…**

_Victor: Hmm then I’ll ask you questions! Do you have a lover now?_

Yuuri was glad he was only reaching for his water bottle and not drinking any of the water, or else the water would’ve gone down the wrong pipe. After Yuuri got back from visiting Yuuko at work, he tried looking up some reviews online about Victor’s route, while actively avoiding spoilers at the same time. All of the reviews sung praises about how his route was well executed, and how the story was tied up nicely at the end, but none of the reviews mentioned how personal Victor’s messages were right at the beginning of his route, nor did they talk about any glitches.

 _“Maybe it’s just my game with a glitch,”_ Yuuri contemplated. _“But that doesn’t really make sense. Why just mine?”_

**Yuuri: No…**

_Victor: Any exes?_

**Yuuri: No comment…**

_Victor: Oooh, anyone you’re interested in then?_ (☆ω☆)

Yuuri dropped his phone on his desk and buried his face in both of his hands. How in the world was Victor so…open in his advances? How was he making Yuuri blush with embarrassment when he’s not even a real person? Sighing, Yuuri picked his phone back up to select his answer.

**Yuuri: Wouldn’t you like to know?** **(^_~)**

_Victor: Yuuriiii! T^T_

A small chuckle escaped Yuuri’s lips. Even as a text message, Yuuri could somehow hear Victor’s voice dragging out his name. Yuuri silently thanked and respected the voice actor for making Victor’s voice so unique that it stuck in his mind.

**Yuuri: Well, I can tell you that I’m a student though.**

_Victor: A college student, I suppose?_

**Yuuri: Yes, although I'm only a first year.**

_Victor: Oh, you’re younger than me then! Are you enjoying college? ^_^_

Yuuri had to admit, even though it does seem a bit weird to him that Victor’s responses all make it seem like he’s a real person, Victor’s still someone he feels comfortable exchanging messages with.

* * *

_“I can’t believe I stayed up until 3 AM just to wait for the new chatrooms to open. You can’t keep doing this, Yuuri,”_ Yuuri chastised himself as he yawned, on the way to the 8 AM class he horribly regrets taking.

If Yuuri was being completely honest, he didn’t regret staying up for the game completely, especially since he found the late night chatroom to be extremely entertaining. He managed to find out more about the dynamics between all the characters, and how much they all mean to each other. He already suspected that Yurio, even with all his hostility towards Victor and the world, looks up to Victor greatly, and aims to surpass him; his suspicions were thus proven in the 3 AM chatroom. Yuuri also found out how the four characters acted like a family, although they weren’t blood related at all. The chatroom didn’t reveal too much about their lives and pasts yet, but Yuuri did discover that all four of them, who were once scattered, wandering souls, found a sense of belonging in their little group, and they had their benefactors, Lilia and Yakov, to thank for that.

_“Honestly, I didn’t expect the game to hint at their pasts this fast. I thought they’d drag out the story a bit more.”_

Yuuri’s phone rang once, signaling an incoming text message, but Yuuri recognized that the tone belonged to his game. With a small, knowing grin, Yuuri opened the new text message from Victor as he walked into class.

_Victor: Yuuri, did you sleep well?_

**Yuuri: I barely got any sleep…**

_Victor: Oh, maybe we shouldn’t have started typing in the group chat that late…Did our messages wake you up?_

**Yuuri: No, I was already up. You’re up early too though, Victor.**

_Victor: I’m actually more of a morning person! I honestly don’t know what got into me last night. I usually don’t stay up that late for no reason._

**Yuuri: Are you sure you didn’t just want to see me? (^_~)**

_Victor: ( >///< ) You got me there! Your replies are becoming quite bold, Yuuri._

**Yuuri: Says the man who was willing to tell me all about his experiences with his ex-lovers.**

_Victor: Ooo, jealous?_

**Yuuri: Hmm…do you wish I was?**

_Victor: Are you?_

**Yuuri: Hmm… what if I said yes?**

_Victor: I’d be honored that someone as amazing as you would get jealous over someone like me. ^_^_

Yuuri’s finger hovered over the answer button. The professor’s lecture right now only sounds like static; something that goes into one ear and out the other, and completely undecipherable. Completely blocking out his professor’s rambles at this point, Yuuri started to think about Victor’s choice of words.

_“’Someone as amazing as you’ and ‘someone like me’”_

Did Victor think that highly of Yuuri’s character? It’s only day 6 and in Yuuri’s opinion, he hadn’t done too much as the group’s manager. However, he has exchanged tons of messages with Victor and participated in almost all of the chatrooms **.** Yuuri felt more comfortable talking with Victor than he did talking with people in real life, and since he’s only playing a game, he figured that there weren’t any consequences to his answer choices that would affect him in real life.

The Yuuri in the game was playful yet still retained some of the shyness that existed in real life Yuuri. In-game Yuuri was also much more open with his choice of words while real-life Yuuri would carefully construct his sentences and make sure he didn’t sound too juvenile before sending his text messages. In-game Yuuri was not real-life Yuuri. Yuuri was entirely convinced that Victor only thought Yuuri was amazing because of his in-game persona. If Victor was real, Yuuri knew for a fact, that Victor wouldn’t even spare him a glance.

Yuuri winced at the thought. The slight pang in his heart haunted him for minutes, surprising Yuuri. Who knew that such a thought would affect him? It wasn’t even about a real person, to boot! On top of that, Yuuri wondered why Victor thought lowly of himself. Was Yuuri overthinking Victor’s choice of words? Possibly. But it still bothered Yuuri and he himself didn’t know why. Why was Yuuri so hung up over the game? Why was he so hung up over the life of a fictional character? Was Yuuri so socially deprived that he would always look forward to texts from a fictional character? He had friends in real life whom he can exchange messages with as well, but texting friends like Phichit or Yuuko just wasn’t the same as texting Victor. Yuuri sighed, thinking that he was ridiculous for even falling this far.

The young man lightly shook his head to clear his mind. One small phrase led to him jumping around from one train of thought to the next, and Yuuri knew himself, that once he starts contemplating on something, it will take a while for him to tune back in to the real world. While he was lost in thoughts, Yuuri realized that his finger had unconsciously pressed the answer button, and now two answer options were staring back at him.

  * **? What do you mean someone like you?**
  * **You think I’m amazing? (o^ ^o)**



Yuuri started lightly gnawing on his bottom lip as he juggled the options. Was he more curious about Victor’s supposed low self-esteem, or would he rather not ask? After hovering his finger back and forth between the two options, Yuuri finally pressed on the first option.

_Victor: … I’ll leave it up to whatever you interpret it as!_

_“So Victor’s not at the point where he wants to open up completely to the MC yet,”_ concluded Yuuri. Some otome games do try to take their time in revealing more about their characters, so Yuuri couldn’t really say he was surprised. He was also not surprised when the next batch of answer choices contained an option that pushed the subject further and an option that changed the subject. To be on the safe side and not receive a broken heart emoticon from Victor, Yuuri chose the option to change the subject.

**Yuuri: Okay then, Mr. Mysterious. Moving on, what do you have planned for the day?**

_Victor: ^_^! I was just going to take Makkachin out for a walk! Oh, you haven’t seen my darling Makkachin yet have you? I’ll send you a photo now!_

Yuuri was slightly startled. He didn’t know characters could send photos over direct messages. He thought photos could only be shared in the chatrooms. His surprised quickly faded into fawning though, when he clicked on the photo, enlarging it till it filled up his whole phone screen.

Victor was as beautifully drawn as ever, with his silver bangs partially covering one of his eyes, which was closed in a wink. His open eye shone a brilliant blue, as he posed for the camera, cheek to cheek with his large, fluffy, brown poodle, Makkachin. Makkachin’s beady black eyes were looking straight at the camera as well, and he had his tongue stuck out, since photo caught him in the middle of panting. Warmth enveloped Yuuri heart as he took his time observing the picture. Victor’s poodle reminded Yuuri so much of his own toy poodle who died before he came to college, that small teardrops started to form in the corner of his eyes.

Every time Yuuri sees pictures in the game, he always mentally applauds the art team. Everything they drew looked so realistic and in Yuuri’s eyes, the picture he just received from Victor looks just like a photo someone could take in real life. Yuuri’s eyes softened a bit more as he stared at Victor’s expression. The silver haired man had a large smile on his face and his expression was full of love for his dog, combined with a slightly flirtatious expression directed at Yuuri.

A new message suddenly arrived from Victor, and Yuuri caught himself staring way too long at the picture. He mentally chastised himself for getting distracted yet again by a fictional character, and in the middle of class, no less. It was a good thing that he was sitting at the back of the lecture hall and that the professor usually uploads his all of powerpoints after class. Yuuri pushed the back button and returned to the messenger screen to check the new text.

_Victor: Now that I’ve sent a picture of Makkachin and myself, it’s your turn to send a selfie!_

Yuuri scratched his head with his free hand. Was this supposed to be part of the story? He never recalled Yuuko mentioning anything about exchanging pictures. Was he supposed to actually take a selfie or was the game going to give him pictures to choose from?

Yuuri soon found the answer to his question when he tapped on the answer button, because all of a sudden, the game opened up a camera app of its own. _“Is this an app within an app?”_ Yuuri wondered. _“This game’s much more well developed than I thought…”_

Using one hand, Yuuri tilted his phone at an angle, while still keeping it grounded on the table, since he didn’t want to raise his phone like Phichit taught him and announce to the whole class that he was taking a selfie. Once he thought he had a good enough angle, Yuuri made a peace sigh with his other hand and brought it up right beside his lips. He then smiled shyly and quickly took his picture. The photo processed quite quickly, and then the game gave Yuuri the option to either send the photo or take another picture, to which Yuuri pressed ‘send’.

_Victor: !!!_

**Yuuri: ?**

_Victor: Yuuri, you’re so cute! I didn’t know you were this cute!_

**Yuuri: Ah… thanks? ^^;;**

_Victor: I’m serious! How are you so cute?! Ahh I can’t wait to meet you now! Why’s Lilia not letting us see you even though you’re supposed to be our manager? >.< _

Yuuri felt another slight pang in his heart. _“Too bad we can’t ever really meet…”_ Yuuri mentally answered.

**Yuuri: I don’t know, but I hope we’ll be able to meet soon!**

_Victor: ^_^ Me too! I don’t know why we can’t see you for now, but who knows? Maybe one day we’ll bump into each other while we’re both out!_

**Yuuri: Haha, yeah, maybe!**

_“Yeah, maybe…if it was my in-game self…”_

Yuuri was getting slightly annoyed with himself for feeling this emotional over not being able to meet Victor. _“Victor, who. Is. Fictional,”_ Yuuri kept reminding himself. The poor boy doesn’t even understand how his feelings towards Victor developed from interest, to awe at the character’s personality, and then to…whatever Yuuri felt for him now. The young man wouldn't really describe his feelings as romantic, but maybe, just maybe, he would say it was somewhat of a crush.

 _“A crush on a fictional character too. What in the world, Yuuri,”_ he mentally moaned, really not comprehending his own taste in men.

Thus, Yuuri found himself dealing with his own confusing feelings for the rest of the class while trying to listen to the rest of the lecture, and deciding to set the game down until he was finished with all his classes as well as with his ice-skating practice session.  

* * *

That night, Yuuri lay in bed, freshly showered and already changed into his pajamas, while participating in the newest chatroom. He felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier as time passed, but the boy was determined to finish the chat before he went to sleep. He knew there was supposed to be a visual novel event after the chatroom, but he also knew that his eyes wouldn’t be able to take much more of staring at a phone screen. Right as the chatroom closed, Yuuri placed his phone on his desk, took off his glasses, and immediately shut his eyes.

“You’re sleeping earlier than usual today,” Phichit commented. “Do you want me to turn off the lights now?”

“Mmhm, I’m just really tired after staying up last night and having to wake up early today. Plus, I had practice today. If you’re still working, you can keep the lights on. I think I’m just gonna knock out even with the lights on…” True to his words, Yuuri fell dead asleep within a few seconds, not even catching what Phichit replied.

Moments after he fell asleep, Yuuri felt himself being jolted by some force. He knew he was laying down, but somehow, it felt like he was knocked down from a standing position. The young man’s eyes flew open and what greeted him wasn’t the ceiling he was getting used to wake up to, but the expanse of the blue sky with strings of foggy clouds decorating it. He noticed that he was sitting on the hard ground, and his hands were splayed out behind him, further confirming that he was indeed not lying on his bed.

 _“Is this a dream?”_ Yuuri wondered.

Yuuri’s train of thought suddenly vanished when a voice called from above, “I’m so sorry for bumping into you! Oh, I knocked your groceries down too.”

The stranger knelt down and started collecting Yuuri’s supposed groceries. Yuuri knew that he should also probably help too, but the Japanese man was paralyzed after hearing the stranger’s voice.

_“I’d recognize that voice anywhere.”_

Perhaps it was Victor’s voice actor. Maybe Yuuri bumped into him somehow while he was off buying groceries. Then again, Yuuri remembered that this was probably a dream, so he turned his head to see just who the stranger was. It was then that Yuuri recognized that he was no stranger. Yuuri’s been talking to this man for six days straight.

 _“Okay, this is definitely a dream. 100% a dream,”_ Yuuri convinced himself.

Kneeling down beside him was none other than Victor Nikiforov, the fictional man Yuuri thought he had a small crush on. All Yuuri could do at this point was gape at the silver haired man, wondering how in the world his mind managed to create a dream so vivid that bumping into Victor seemed so realistic.

“V-Victor?” Yuuri managed to squeak.

Victor raised his head to answer to his name, a generic smile ready just in case he was speaking to a fan. His generic smile quickly vanished and turned to disbelief when he laid his eyes on Yuuri’s equally surprised face.

“Yuuri?” Victor asked, waiting for a confirmation.

Yuuri nodded. His mouth was still slightly open in surprise as his eyes did a once over of Victor.

Victor’s expression suddenly changed to one of extreme joy. Yuuri could swear that Victor’s smile was heart shaped from what he saw right before Victor tackled the poor boy in a hug.

“Wow, it’s really you, Yuuri! I can’t believe it! I said maybe we’d bump into each other someday when we’re both out and we really did! It’s great to finally meet you!” Victor gushed as he kept squeezing Yuuri in a bear hug.

Yuuri honestly did share the same joy Victor had, but he was also a lot more overwhelmed. _“This dream…is TOO realistic! I can actually feel his hug and the ground under me. Is this just my brain’s form of a culmination of my love for the game? This is too much…”_

Yuuri felt his body slump forward and his brain shut down. Victor shook the young man to try and rouse him again, but it was too late. Yuuri Katsuki had passed out in Victor Nikiforov’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this second chapter was enjoyable to y'all! Please let me know what you think! If you guys wanna yell with me about YOI (and/or Mystic Messenger), feel free to drop by and say hi on my tumblr, [teddiehtet](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/teddiehtet), or my twitter, also [teddiehtet](https://twitter.com/teddiehtet)!


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